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Banking has increasingly become nationalized in Russia, raising concerns that all private banks may be forced from the market within 10 or 15 years. In the short run, this consolidation enables the government to continue funding its numerous and expensive commitments and thereby maintain social and political stability. David Szakonyi discusses the political consequences of this creeping nationalization of the Russian banking sector and warns that they may be less auspicious in the longer term.

May 9, the Victory Day over Nazi Germany, has long been the main national holiday, the principal day on which Russians turn to the past. In recent years, the Immortal Regiment, a march of people carrying portraits of their ancestors who fought in the war, has brought together millions across Russia and beyond. Critics of the Immortal Regiment see in it yet another manifestation of the official memory of the war, aimed at holding together the state’s historical narrative and consolidating the regime’s legitimacy. However, Ivan Kurilla believes that the Immortal Regiment helps people preserve their family memory and that many participants do not see it as an official event.